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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28573224">it's tough to be a god</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyJustAMemory/pseuds/OnlyJustAMemory'>OnlyJustAMemory</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(especially quackity and sapnap), Angst, Deity Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Deity Karl Jacobs, Deity Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Karl Jacobs is a God, Karl Jacobs-centric, M/M, The Village That Went Mad, Villain Karl Jacobs, also i’m sorry my brain does not cope well with past vs present tense sometimes, and he gets tired of it, bc i like that better than time traveller karl jacobs, bc i need more of it, people aren’t the nicest to karl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:28:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,261</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28573224</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyJustAMemory/pseuds/OnlyJustAMemory</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Karl Jacobs is tired of getting used and with the help of Dream begins to realize that he’s done with playing the role of innocent, helpless mortal.</p><p>{We’re shipping personas/characters here! Not IRL people!}</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexis | Quackity &amp; Karl Jacobs, Alexis | Quackity &amp; Karl Jacobs &amp; Sapnap, Alexis | Quackity/Karl Jacobs/Sapnap, Clay | Dream &amp; Karl Jacobs, Karl Jacobs &amp; Sapnap, Karl Jacobs &amp; Technoblade, Karl Jacobs &amp; Toby Smith | Tubbo, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>513</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. when the show is over and the curtain comes down</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This, of course, is inspired by Karl’s Tales from the SMP. I love the idea that Dream is immortal and Karl’s a time traveller, etc. etc. but I also love the idea of villain!Karl so this worked better.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a lovely night out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl sat atop Eret’s castle, swinging his legs back and forth. He’s whistling a tune, one he’s not sure he recognizes but must have learnt at some point. It’s funny like that: sometimes even when his brain doesn’t remember his body does.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s not sure why he’s there. Karl had woken up not too long enough and had suddenly been hit with such an urge to </span>
  <em>
    <span>go</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Go where he didn’t know, but his home had felt suffocating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A lot of things lately had felt suffocating. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl had thought the role he’d chosen would be fun. For so long he’d been the center of attention (or at the very least playing the strings with the rest of the ‘big boys’) and this seemed like a nice break. It definitely helped that he’d found himself falling in love with two mortals, Sapnap and Quackity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Things </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> been going great for a while until…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Until they weren’t.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The role he’d chosen was of a morally grey, background character. Even though it had slightly pained Karl at first, he grew used to not being in the spotlight. He was free to sit back, relax, and observe. It was the closest he’d had to a normal mortal life in a very, </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> long time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So when had that changed? When had he begun to hate the cage he’d placed himself in?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe it was when he realized he was the outsider in his relationship. It was supposed to be the three of them, all together and all equal, but that wasn’t the case. Lately it had been feeling like it was Sapnap &amp; Quackity + Karl. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wasn’t dumb. Karl knew Sapnap snuck into Quackity’s room at night to cuddle sometimes (</span>
  <strike>
    <span>without him</span>
  </strike>
  <span>). He knew they went on dates together (</span>
  <strike>
    <span>without him</span>
  </strike>
  <span>). He’d catch them giggling in corners together, holding hands and looking so deeply in love that it </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurt</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Karl never got that look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He was being left behind.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he tried to address them about it, they’d brushed him off. They told him he was just being paranoid, insecure, and that of course they loved him. They were all equals.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Lies.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl grabbed a stray stone near him and chucked it as far as he could. Powered by his anger, it sped into the distance, soon disappearing into a nearby forest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl thought he heard the sound of a tree cracking and falling down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’d never really been much of a people pleaser in the past, never one to bend to pressure, but coming to the Dream SMP… that had changed. Karl had soon found himself being a huge people pleaser, doing his best to try and make sure things ran smoothly and that everyone was happy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>People stepped on him because of it. They took advantage of it, automatically assuming that it was fine and that Karl wouldn’t care. They stole his kindness, twisted it, and then left him with nothing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked at Dream and Technoblade and envied them. Once upon a time he’d been just like them, and he still technically was. They, however, hadn’t strayed from their nature.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And he was suffering the consequences because of it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gods, Karl was sick of it. He was so tired of playing the nice guy. He was tired of being second best. He was tired of being picked last. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He remembered the Village That Went Mad. How could he not? It was the last time he’d truly felt all powerful, </span>
  <em>
    <span>unstoppable</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Everything that happened in that town was because of him. No actions were made without his express permission. He’d controlled every little aspect and it had been </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What he wouldn’t do for that again.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You could have it again you know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl whirled around, heart beating fast. He’d been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard the sound of footsteps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Dream,” he muttered, staring into that eerie, smiley-faced mask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How had he known exactly what Karl was thinking?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can see it in your eyes,” the other said, ignoring the introduction. He sat down next to Karl, moving his legs so they hung off the edge too. “You’re getting tired of playing the innocent, helpless mortal.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And what makes you say that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream laughs. “I’m not an idiot. I’ve been watching you-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a little creepy,” Karl interrupts, but shuts his mouth at the way Dream tilts his head at him. He can’t see the other man’s face, but he’s good with body language and he’s known Dream for a lot longer than most would think. He knows that that action was meant to display the masked man’s irritation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As I was saying, I’ve been watching you. I see how you act around everyone else, hiding in the background while they all make their plays. I know that Quackity and Sapnap are leaving you behind. I know that everyone is using you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And what’s to say you wouldn’t do the same? I know you, Dream. I know you better than maybe anyone in the place besides Technoblade. I know what you’re offering.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What am I offering then?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You want me to join you. You want me to abandon my friends, the two men I love, and all my allegiances to stand by your side. Correct?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lack of response is enough of an answer. Dream is studying him and Karl hates it. He’s being picked apart under the other man’s gaze and gods, it’s been so long since he last felt this vulnerable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d be giving up everything I’ve worked so hard to have. I’d be giving up my home.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream snorted. “This isn’t your home. You and I both know that this, the Dream SMP, it’s temporary. We’ll both exist long after this place eventually tears itself apart. Soon enough it’ll just be an old memory, regardless of whether it’s a good or bad one.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What did he have to be right? Why did he have to say all the things Karl had been too afraid to think?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They underestimate you, Karl. They think you’re some innocent bystander with no real power, but I know otherwise. I was there, remember? In the Village That Went Mad. I saw how alive you were towering over them, playing with them. Making them think they were significant or had any control. Don’t you want to feel that again?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl bit down on his lip hard. He did want to feel that again, didn’t he? It wasn’t in his nature to be quiet or submissive. He’d been born to conquer and rule. If he wanted, he could probably tear down L’Manberg and all surrounding countries in an instant (if he wasn’t opposing Dream or Techno that was). </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Sapnap and Quackity…” Karl trailed off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dream scoffed. Even though he couldn’t see his face Karl guessed he’d rolled his eyes. “They don’t love you in the same way you love them. Quackity will always favour Sapnap and Sapnap will always favour Quackity. Do you really want to constantly be trying to fight to get to their side when they don’t really want you? When you’re nothing more than a pest to them? Love does nothing but prohibit and weaken.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl doesn’t have the ability to get into Dream’s mind, but he knows that images of a small orphan and a blind catboy are passing through his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So.” Dream stood up. “Are you ready to be a god again?” He holds out his hand and Karl stares at it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This is it. He has to decide. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But is it really even a decision at that point? They both already know the answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Karl stood up too and brushed off the gravel that had stuck to him. Looking Dream directly in that stupid mask of his, he shook his hand.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And so it began.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. play rehearsal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Karl Jacobs causes a little chaos by making things go slightly boom.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Once again this entire thing is fictional! Including the shipping relationships!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It hurts that they don’t notice straight away. Karl may have strayed from the L’Manburg and El Rapids area, but he still lurks in the metaphorical shadows there, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>they haven’t even realized he’s gone</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It’s been an entire week and nothing. No one looks like they’re searching for him. No one has any worried expressions on. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’s like he was never there. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>If Dream disappeared in the middle of the night, the SMP would fall to pieces. Sure, it is his name in the title, but a similar thing would happen with Technoblade. He’d been dubbed the “villain” and without an antagonist, L’Manburg &amp; Co. would get bored. There would be no fights and no battles. Nothing to band together over. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As much as one might hate war it can create just as much as it can destroy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl stares at those he once called friends from high above in a tree and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>hates. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Gods, he hates. It doesn’t matter as much to him that he hasn’t affected the overall “plot” (as one might call it), but instead his friends… Eret, George, Tubbo…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Quackity and Sapnap.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He knew that they didn’t love him as much as they loved each other, but damn. They really hadn’t lost any sleep over him leaving, had they?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl had tricked himself into thinking that he mattered to these people. He’d let down his walls in an attempt to maybe finally have something </span>
  <em>
    <span>real. </span>
  </em>
  <span>But there was no point dwelling on it now, was there? It was the present that mattered and Karl was going to make sure that they never </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>forgot him again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>While he was technically on Dream’s side, Karl didn’t answer to him. The reason why he’d left El Rapids was because he was tired of being a pawn, and so he’d made it clear to the other God that if they were to team up, Karl would not just be another one of Dream’s puppets. He would put himself first and make his own decisions, regardless of others’ orders. Dream had agreed to respect this, as long as Karl didn’t end up getting in the way of his end goal. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So. He was free to have some fun.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As a little “welcome home”-esk present, Dream had gifted Karl an entire stack of TNT to do with as he pleased. His first reaction to the explosives was to get rid of them or give them back, but then it set in just how much potential chaos they could bring. He wouldn’t do anything big, nothing to the scale of what Wilbur did, but there was still something to learn from the man, wasn’t there?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl’s communicator buzzed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Dream: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Where are you right now?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Karl: </b>
  <em>
    <span>I’m on the Prime Path near Tommy’s house. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Dream: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Huh. So you really are going through with it.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Karl: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Did you not think I could?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Dream: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl could complain all he wanted, but this was a hole he’d dug himself. His behaviour was the reason why everyone always underestimated him, only strengthened by the meager facade that he’d crafted. This was his fault, but that didn’t make him any less angry. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His communicator buzzed again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Dream: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Prove me wrong.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl grinned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Show time.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His plan was simple: seeing as they’d never registered that he’d left, showing up again wouldn’t cause any kind of suspicion. It would hurt like hell trying to fit back into his old role, but it was necessary. If Karl wanted to truly get what he was due as well as help Dream, he needed their trust. It was essential, and while he was neutral at that moment to them, being neutral didn’t inspire much trust. There was a reason why he’d been called a morally grey character. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So, he’d have to do something that would make them trust him. Nothing too big, of course, but just enough that they’d allow him to be there. They needed to view him as not at all a threat, overlooking him to the point where it didn’t matter if he knew top secret information.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>To be honest, even before his team up with Dream he’d been well on the way to achieving that.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The solution to his problems came in the form of the newly acquired TNT. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl shifted in his spot among the trees. The branch he was crouching on had been on its way to snapping for a while, so grabbing the trunk of the tree for support, Karl nimbly jumped down to the ground. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There were four faint figures coming down the Prime Path towards Tommy’s house. Karl watched as they slowly walked closer to his hiding spot behind the base, the lot of them lost in what seemed to be in a semi-serious conversation. It was perfect: they were completely oblivious to anything beyond their little bubble, making this much easier for Karl.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A few more seconds and he can see them clearer now. It’s Tubbo, Fundy, Sapnap, and Quackity. His heart does a weird little thing when he sees the last two, but Karl pushes it down. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>They don’t deserve his love.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They’re close enough that he can begin to make out their conversation. It has something to do with L’Manburg, but Karl honestly could not care less. It doesn’t seem important enough to him to purposefully eavesdrop, and he needs to get this timing perfect. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>A few more steps… </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>One…</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Two…</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Three.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl presses a hidden button on the ground. It’s only because he’s purposefully listening that he can hear the sudden hissing of TNT, and he waits a few beats before moving. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Quackity, watch out!” Karl yells, throwing his body towards his ex-boyfriend(?). He manages to tackle him to the ground just in time, the explosion of the TNT throwing them both back, but not seriously injuring. His ears ring with the impact and it takes him a second to recollect himself before he continues.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you ok?!” Karl asks, moving off of Quackity. He puts on his best worried expression, trying to suppress the sudden rush of anger he feels. If Dream were here he’d be telling Karl to control himself more, but it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>hard</span>
  </em>
  <span>, harder than he thought it would be. Just seeing him amplifies all the hurt that had slowly been collecting in Karl since he’d realized how little he mattered to them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I am,” Quackity says, panting. He gives Karl a smile and it’s so soft and sweet, and Gods, Karl can feel himself slightly falling for it. Honestly, this time last week he probably would have. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But he knows better now.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Quackity!” Sapnap calls, rushing over to them and suddenly Karl’s not there. He’d been completely forgotten now that the two of them are together and damn he is going to have fun destroying this place and everyone in it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What the hell just happened?” Fundy asks, him and Tubbo joining the others. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” Karl lies. “I was just walking along the path when I heard the sound of TNT going off. I realized that it was coming from this area and kind of just reacted on instinct.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I’m glad you did,” Tubbo smiles. “Otherwise someone could have seriously gotten hurt.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Someone else has already gotten hurt and the lot of you have been so involved with yourselves that you’ve never noticed.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Karl says instead, matching Tubbo’s smile with his own. “We wouldn’t want that.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How did it even get there?” Sapnap asks. He’d helped Quackity to his feet, leaving Karl kneeling on the ground. It’s such a dumb, small thing, but it hurts knowing that Sapnap hadn’t even considered extending that gesture to him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I have no idea,” Karl shrugged, rising to their level. “It doesn’t seem like there was much of it and it’s an odd thing to have just laying around here. This must have been purposeful, although I don’t know what that purpose is.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe it was to try and kill Tubbo?” Fundy suggests. “He is the president after all.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“But who would have done this?” Quackity asked. “The only two I can think of is Dream and Techno, but this isn’t their style.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Could be a part of some grand scheme,” Karl said. “And I mean I know not everyone is happy with L’Manburg currently. Could have been a lot of people honestly.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Make them paranoid. Plant that seed of doubt.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, you’re right,” Tubbo says thoughtfully. There was such an innocent undertone to his expression in that moment, but Karl knew not to take it at face value. Tubbo had been through so much already and it would be naive of Karl himself to think that Tubbo really was some innocent child who didn’t know the harsh realities of the world. Tubbo did, which was a problem in itself.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He hasn’t even turned 18 yet. He’s still a kid.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“For now,” Tubbo continues, “I think this just stays within us. Wasn’t too big of a deal, but we should stay cautious. If any of you see or hear anything suspicious, come to me, ok? We have to sort this out together.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Keyword: “together”.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They all nod in agreement. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After that they began to split their separate ways. Fundy goes off in search of Ranboo for a project of theirs, and Sapnap claims that he’s going to go and make sure Quackity is properly healed. Karl instinctively goes to follow after them, but stops himself in time. He’d made a promise to stop trailing after them like a lost puppy and he intended to keep it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>How had it taken him this long to realize that he’d never truly been invited to those alone moments? Maybe Karl had been in the beginning, sure, but now…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Aren’t you going to go with them?” Tubbo asks and Karl slightly jumps. He’d forgotten that the younger boy was still there.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah,” Karl says, hoping his tone is light and not as weighed down as he feels. “I’ve got some other things to do and Quackity’s in good hands.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Speaking of, I haven’t seen you around much lately,” Tubbo says. “Where have you been?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl’s heart warms for a split second.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>So someone had noticed. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There’s nothing in Tubbo’s expression that makes it seem like he suspects anything, so Karl simply ruffles Tubbo’s hair (much to his dismay) and smiles. “Been busy with a new secret project.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh!” Tubbo grins. “What is it?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>secret </span>
  </em>
  <span>project, Tubbo. I can’t tell you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Tubbo pouts and Karl lets out a genuine laugh. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll see you around, ok?” Karl says and Tubbo nods his head.  The young boy waves his hand in goodbye and heads off in the same direction as Fundy. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl’s communicator vibrates in his pocket. He doesn’t even need to check the screen first before knowing who it is.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Dream: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Nice job.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl looks up and manages to spot a sudden flash of light green in the trees before it’s gone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Karl: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Did I live up to your expectations?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Dream: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Eh, I’d say you passed. At least now I know you’re serious.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Karl: </b>
  <em>
    <span>I meant it when I said I was done, Dream. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Karl: </b>
  <em>
    <span>I’m slowly remembering just how </span>
  </em>
  <span>good </span>
  <em>
    <span>it feels to be a God again.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Dream: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Oh we haven’t even started yet. This was just a warm-up.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Karl: </b>
  <em>
    <span>What do you have in mind next then?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Dream: </b>
  <em>
    <span>How do you feel about a little manipulation?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Karl grins. His gaze drops from his communicator instead goes in the direction of the trees again. Even though there’s no flash of green this time, he knows Dream is still there, watching. He can feel the other God’s energy, the power amplifying his own. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <b>Karl: </b>
  <em>
    <span>Count me in.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoyed :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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